Needle threader for a sewing machine



Nov. 17, 1959 lSAO MASUYAMA NEEDLE THREADER FOR A SEWING MACHINE FiledApril 7, 1958 ta atent .fNEEDLE THREADER FOR A SEWING MACHINE .IsaoMasuyama, Ishioka-shi, Ibaragi, Japan, assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Belcon Importing (30., Los

Angeles, Calif.

Application April 7, 1958, Serial No. 724,662

Claims priority, application Japan June 17, 1957 7 Claims. (Cl. 112-225)The present invention relates to an improvement in a needle threader fora sewing machine, and more particularly to an improvement in a needlethreader of the type wherein a hook-needle is advanced so as to passthrough an .eye of a sewing-needle of the sewing machine while said;sewing-needle is guided by a guiding channel .of the threader.

A needle threader, according to the present invention, :is characterized.in that a needle guiding plate is mounted in .a little inclinedposition downwardly to the front and has a first guiding channel ofinverted V section .for guiding a hook-needle and a second guidingchannel .of V .shape at its forward end for guiding a sewing needle ofthe sewing machine, the said second channel being formed by cutting offthe sides of the channel in the forward end from the top to the bottomin inclined direction, and the slidable hook-needle which has a hookportion .at thefront bending upward at a proper angle is so arrangedthat the upper edge of the hook portion isalways lightly pressed intocontact with the top of said hook-needle guiding channel. 1

'The object of the present invention is to guide the hook-needle so thatonly .the upper edge of the forward end .hook portion is kept in contactwith the top of the .first guiding channel, and to make the'forward endof theitop of the first guiding channel conform to the apex of theV-shaped second guiding channel, whereby the hook-needle can bepositively and easily passed through theeye of the sewing-needle. (Thehook-needle is posi- -tively passed through the eye of thesewing-needle..withoutlfail, even if the hook-needle is somewhat bent.)

The other object is to make the upward bending angle of the hook portionof the hook-needle substantially accord with the inclining angle of theneedle portion of .the hook-needle when the hook portion slides into theeye of the sewing needle, so that the hook portion passes into said eyesubstantially at a right angle with respect .to the sewing-needle,whereby facilitating the passing of the hook needle, as well aspermitting the vertical width of the hook portion of the hook-needle tobe made somewhat longer than usual, thus facilitating the manufacturingof the hook needle.

'In order that thepresent invention can be clearly understood, it willbe explained with reference to the accompanying drawings whichillustrate, by way of example, one embodiment of the present invention,in which:

Fig. .1 is a perspective view of a needle threader according to thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the needle threader attached to a pressure-barof a sewing machine and kept in its operative position, the pressure-barbeing shown by chain lines;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-II1 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the needle threader in the raised position;

Fig. Sis an end view of the needle threader as seen from the right sideof Fig. 2, showing the lowered polines;

2,912,948 I 1 Patented Nov. 17, 19.59

ZFig...6 is a,perspective view of a hook-needle;

Fig. .7 .is .a plan viewofthe.needleguiding plate, show- .ing. a.sewingeneedle in cross section;

.Fig. 8 is .a view taken along the.lineiX1'II-,XIII of Fig. 7, and I i'Fig. '9 is ,a view illustrating therelation between the sewing-needleand the hook-needle.

Referring to the drawings, the.needle threader according to the presentinyen'tion comprises a threader. proper indicated generally by ;thereference numeral land a mounting member generally indicated by thereference numeral2.

As shown in Figs. 1, '2 and 3, the threader proper 1 comprises abase'platefi slightlytilting downward-'to'the front, a supporting plate4 and a needle guiding plate 5. A slider 6 is slidably mounted'on thebase plate "3 'so'that it can be'slid alonga slot 7 formed in said baseplate. Aspring8 is provided which is fixed at-one end 'on thesupporting-plate4 and is engaged -at"the other end with a pin 9 which is:mounted on the slider :6. The spring 8 always acts to push the "slider.6 backward along the slot 7 and to holditinits retracted position. Ahook needle 10 is :releasably .mounted :at thelrearward endontheslide'rs6.

Said needle guiding plate "S'hason its underside .a first guidingchannel 11 having inverted ;V+shaped section for guidingthehook-needle10 (Fig. 8), and at is forward end a second guiding channel 12. of 'Vshape for guiding thesewing-needle of the sewing machine ,(Fig. 7formedby cutting-off the sides of the channel :in the .forward end from'the -top'to .the bottom'in'inclined direction. The needle guiding plateis arranged 'lO incline downwardlyto its forward end.

The hook-needle 10 basahookportion 13 at the forward end which hookportion is formed by bending upwardly at -a=properangle:andqthendownwardly tohave an opening facingdownwardlmand an eye portion 14 atthe rearward end. .The hook-needle 10 is pivotally mountedby-theeyelportion 14 on the, pin -9 of the: slider 6 and is preventedfrom slipping out of the pinbyaknob 15 screwed thereon. vA coil spring16 isloosely mounted .on the pin 9 and is engaged at one endwith the beadvanced forwardly when the-slider 6 is pushed forward along the slot '7against the action of the spring 8 by. applying, a manual forceonthe.knob 15 of .theslider 6.

The mountingmember indicated by thelreference numeral 2 comprises acylindrical mounting tube 17, .a cylindrical sleeve 18 which isrotatably set in said cylindrical mounting tube andis adapted tobefixedon a-pressurebar 19 of the-sewing-machine by means of a set screw20, and a supporting .arm 21 which. projects outward from saidcylindrical mounting tube and has a bracket .22 fixed thereon, to whichis pivotally mounted .an upper portion 23 of the above-mentionedsupporting plate 4 of the threader, proper 1. -A,,pressing,.pinf24having ahead 25 is mounted'in the supporting arm'21, said head.25 alwaysapplying a pressure on. the upper-portion. of the supporting plate i Onthe bracket 2270f thesupporting-arrn 1 fisprovided a stop 27, which.acts .to stop the supporting. plate.. .4 which is urged downward .by theaction of thesp-ring26 when said supporting plate 4 islowered,wherebythe suporting plate 4,, is held, at a, predetermined angle asrequired, as shown in full lines in Fig. 5.

Now the manner how the above mentioned needle threader according to oneform of the present invention can be used will be explained as follows.The needle threader is mounted on the pressure-bar 19 of the sewingmachine, by fitting the sleeve 18 of the mounting member 2 on saidpressure-bar and then fixing said sleeve at the proper position alongthe length of the pressure-bar by the set screw 20. When the needlethreader is not used, the threader is rotated as a whole around themounting sleeve 18 backwardly of the sewing machine and the threaderproper 1 is raised upward as shown in Fig. 4. The threader proper 1 isthen held in the raised position or resting position by the action ofthe spring 26 (Fig. 5).

When it is desired to use the needle threader, the threader proper 1 islowered into the position shown by full lines in Fig. 5 and then thethreader is rotated as .needle is advanced against the force of thespring 8 by applying a manual force on the knob 15. At this time thehookportion 13 of the hook-needle 10 is lightly pressed into contactwith the first guiding channel 11 of the needle guiding plate 5 as shownin Fig. 8, so that the hook portion 13 is guided by said channel 11,while advancing, and comes in contact with the sewing-needle 28 as shownby full lines in Fig. 9. Then the hook por tion 13 is guided by a groove29 provided in the sewingneedle adjacent to an eye 30 thereof, until thehook portion slides into the eye 30 of the sewing-needle.

When 'the hook portion 13 of the hook-needle has passed through the eye30 of the sewing-needle, a thread to be passed through the eye isengaged in the hook portion, and then the hook-needle is retracted bythe action of the spring 8, carrying the thread through the eye. Thusthe thread is passed through the eye of the sewing-needle and thethreading operation is completed. After completion of the threadingoperation, the threader will be rotated and raised into the restingposition as aforementioned.

According to the present invention as described with reference to thedrawings, there is no danger of bringing about a misalignment in therequired relative position between the sewing-needle and thehook-needle, because the forward end of the top of the first guidingchannel 11 is made to conform to the apex of the second guiding channel12 so that the guiding points of these channels for the hook-needle andthe sewing needle are the same front point of the guiding plate 5, andbecause the sewing needle. even if the hook-needle is somewhat bent.

and consequently it assures that a thread can be inserted into the eyeof .the sewing-needle without fail.

The needle threader as described above is so arranged that thehook-needle engages the groove of the sewingn'eedle in a little inclinedposition downwardly to the front and slides along said groove until thehook portion of the hook-needle slides into the eye of the sewingneedle,and the hook needle is formed with the upwardly 'bent hook portionhaving the bending angle of such value as corresponds to the incliningangle of the hook-needle when the hook portion enters into the. eye ofthe sewing 4 needle. Thus the hook portion of the hook-needle passes theeye of the sewing-needle substantially at right angle with respect tothe sewing-needle.

Accordingly this needle threader permits to use a relatively largevertical width of the hook portion (as indicated by b in Fig. 6) ascompared with the case in which the hook portion of the hook-needle isadapted to diagonally pass through the eye (in the case of the presentinvention, the vertical width a little smaller than the length of theeye of the sewing-needle will suffice), and therefore the hook-needlecan be manufactured more easily.

While one embodiment of the present invention has been shown anddescribed it will be apparent that other modifications and alterationsmay be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A needle threader for a sewing machine having a sewing needle,comprising a threader body, means for mounting the threader body on thesewing machine, a hook-needle support slidably mounted on said threaderbody, a hook-needle pivoted on said support and including an upwardlybent hook portion, a needle guiding plate provided on said threader bodyand inclined downwardly therefrom, a first guiding channel on saidneedle guiding plate for guiding the hook portion of said hook-needle,spring means for resiliently pressing said hook portion into contactwith the first guiding channel, and a second guiding channel at theforward end of said needle guiding plate for guiding the sewing needleof the sewing machine.

2. A needle threader for a sewing machine according to claim 1, in whichthe upwardly bent hook portion of the hook-needle is at an angle whichcorresponds to the angle of inclination of the hook-needle with the hookportion entering into the eye of the sewing needle.

3. A needle threader for a sewing machine, comprising a threader body,means supporting the threader body on the sewing machine, a hook-needlesupport slidably mounted on said threader body, a hook-needle pivoted onsaid support and including an upwardly bent hook portion, a needleguiding plate on said threader body and inclined downwardly therefrom, afirst guiding channel on the needle guiding plate to guide thehook-needle, spring means for resiliently pressing said hook-needle intocontact with the first guiding channel, and a second guiding channel onthe needle guiding plate to guide the needle at a point which lies at anend of the first guiding channel.

4. A needle threader according to claim 3, in which the first guidingchannel is an inverted V groove on the underside of the needle guidingplate which is adapted to guide the upwardly bent hook portion of thehook-needle, and the second guiding channel is a V-shaped notch havingthe apex lying at an end of the first guiding channel and which isadapted to guide the needle at said apex.

5. A needle threader according to claim 4, in which the second guidingchannel is connected with the first guiding channel.

6. A needle threader according to claim 3, in which the spring meanscomprises a coil spring loosely mounted on the pivot of the hook-needleand engaged at one end with the hook-needle and fixed at the other endto the support.

7. A needle threader according to claim 3, in which said spring meansresiliently urges the support into position to hold the hook-needlecarried on the support in retracted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,239,765 Bowyer Sept. 11, 1917 engages Hickey Nov. 21, 1950 2,538,395;Stinson Jan. 16. 1951 2,655,386 Ingwer Oct. 20, 1953

